System and method for transforming a voicemail into a communication session

ABSTRACT

A system and method for transforming a voicemail message into a chat session between a first party and a second party. The method comprises receiving, at a remote server, a voice message from the first party which is destined for the second party. The server transcribes the voice message, which involves transforming the voice message into a text. The server then initiates the chat session between the first party and the second party, by sending the text and audio as a multi-media instant message (IM) to the first party and to the second party. The IM appears as an outgoing message on a first computing device associated with the first party, and as an incoming message on a second computing device associated with the second party.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit or priority from U.S. provisionalapplication 62/455,013, filed on Feb. 6, 2017, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND (a) Field

The subject matter disclosed generally relates to electronic messaging,and more particularly, to methods and systems for initiatingcommunication sessions between electronic devices of different parties.

(b) Related Prior Art

It is becoming common for users to have access to their voicemail intheir email or instant messaging inbox. Primarily, this comes in theform of an audio attachment to an email (or instant message) where theaudio can be played back when desired.

FIG. 1 illustrates a more advanced approach which includes the audioattachment representing the voicemail in an email application andprovides an audio player object, and a reply by chat object whichtogether allow the person receiving the voicemail to listen to thevoicemail and reply by writing.

However, with these approaches, the chances of having the emailforgotten, ignored or buried in a large list of unread emails, and thusdelayed, are very high.

Other attempts have been made to convert voice conversations to texttranscriptions so as to provide the benefits of texting (speed, urgency,ability to log and search, etc.) for voice data.

However, the automatic transcription of human speech into text remains atechnological challenge. There are various reasons why transcription ischallenging, including people speaking with different accents,background noise, telephone audio quality and many others. As a result,telephone message transcriptions often only give the reader the gist ofwhat was said and have relatively low accuracies that limit theirusefulness.

Voicemail recipients of existing systems are also limited in theirability to reply to the sender. Existing systems often do not allowreply if the sender does not also have an account on that system (i.e.,if they are not already registered users of the platform) or if they doallow such a reply, its delivery is not assured or its non-delivery isnot signaled. In addition, when a reply is possible existing systemsdeliver it in an email which can go unnoticed for a long time, or in anautomated telephone call which can go unanswered. As a result, voicemailis a one-way communication and not a conversation where an exchange(i.e., a bi-directional communication) can take place between differentparties.

Therefore, there remains a need in the market for a system and methodwhich address the shortcoming of the existing systems.

SUMMARY

The present embodiments provide such a system.

In one aspect there is provided a computer implemented method forestablishing a chat session between a first party and a second party,the method comprising: receiving a voice message from the first partywhich is destined for the second party; transcribing the voice messageincluding transforming the voice message into a text; initiating thechat session between the first party and the second party, includingsending the voice message and its transcribed text as a multi-mediainstant message (IM) to the first party and to the second party, the IMappearing as an outgoing message on a first computing device associatedwith the first party, and as an incoming message on a second computingdevice associated with the second party.

In an embodiment, the first party uses a first computing device torecord audio which is streamed to a remote transcription server fortranscription using a voice-to-text algorithm installed on the remotetranscription server, and the transcribed text returned to the firstcomputing device of the first party wherein a multi-media IM, composedof both audio and text is created, addressed to the second party andsent to a remote push server wherein it is sent to the second computingdevice of the second party over a telecommunications network.

In another embodiment, the second party may reply to the multi-media IMfrom the first party with another multi-media IM using a secondcomputing device to record audio which is streamed to a remotetranscription server for transcription using a voice-to-text algorithminstalled on the remote transcription server, and the transcribed textreturned to the second computing device of the second party wherein amulti-media IM, composed of both audio and text is created, addressed asa reply to the first party and sent to a remote push server wherein itis sent, over a telecommunications network, to the first computingdevice of the first party wherein it is displayed as an IM reply.

In yet another embodiment, the first party first makes a call using afirst communication device connected to a remote call switch whichdirects the call to the second party and, after the second party isunable to answer the call, re-directs it to a remote voicemail serverthat answers and wherein the first party leaves a voicemail which istranscribed, using a voice-to-text algorithm installed on a remotetranscription server, and wherein the multi-media IM, composed of bothaudio and text is created, addressed as a ‘received message’ to thesecond party and a ‘sent message’ to the first party and sent to aremote push server wherein it is sent, over a telecommunicationsnetwork, to a first computing device of the first party wherein it isdisplayed as an outgoing IM and a second computing device of the secondparty wherein it is displayed as an incoming IM.

The method may comprise providing the text in an editable format on thecomputing device of the sending party prior to sending the IM; andsending the IM to the receiving party upon receiving a user input tosend, whereby the edited text can be sent as amendment following themulti-media IM being sent to the receiving user.

The method further comprises sending and receiving the audio filerepresenting the transcribed voice message along with the texttranscription as a single indivisible multi-media IM object. Thisensures that in cases where transcription inaccuracies occur, therecipient can get the gist of the message from the transcribed text butcan listen to the audio for its exact content.

According to an embodiment, sending the multi-media instant message (IM)to the first party and to the second party comprises sending themulti-media instant message (IM) to at least one of: more than onecomputing device associated with the first party; and more than onecomputing device associated with the second party.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a system forestablishing a chat session between a first party and a second party,the system comprising a remote server to which an electronic device ofthe first party subscribes, the remote server receiving a voice messagefrom the first party which is destined for the second party; the remoteserver executing instructions for transcribing the voice messageincluding transforming the voice message into a text, the remote serverinitiating the chat session between the first party and the secondparty, including sending the text and audio as a multi-media instantmessage (IM) to the first party and to the second party, the IMappearing as an outgoing message on a first computing device associatedwith the first party, and as an incoming message on a second computingdevice associated with the second party.

According to an embodiment, the remote server comprises a single serverfor recording the voice message and transcribing the voice message tothe text.

According to an embodiment, the remote server comprises a voicemailserver for recording the voice message and a transcription server incommunication with the voicemail server for transcribing the voicemessage to the text.

According to an embodiment, the remote server comprises a plurality ofservers operating in a network for recording the voice message andtranscribing the voice message to the text.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method forintegrating a voice message into a chat session between a first partyand a second party, the method comprising:

-   -   receiving, at a remote server, a voice message from the first        party which is destined for the second party;    -   transcribing the voice message including transforming the voice        message into a text; and    -   forwarding to the chat session between the first party and the        second party, a multi-media instant message (IM) including the        text and an audio record of the voice message, the IM appearing        as an outgoing message on a first computing device associated        with the first party displaying the chat session, and as an        incoming message on a second computing device associated with        the second party displaying the chat session.

According to an embodiment, the audio is recorded on the first computingdevice and streamed over a telecommunications network to be transcribedusing a voice-to-text algorithm installed on the remote server, then theIM is sent as a new message to the second computing device over atelecommunications network.

According to an embodiment, the voicemail is transcribed using avoice-to-text algorithm installed on a remote server and wherein the IMis sent to the first computing device and to the second computing deviceover a telecommunications network.

According to an embodiment, the method further comprises:

-   -   before forwarding the IM to the chat session, sending the text        to the first computing device associated with the first party        and instructing the first computing device to present the text        in an editable format on the first computing device;    -   recording edits on the text by the first computing device and        sending the text as edited to the remote server; and    -   sending the IM to the second electronic devices associated with        the second party immediately followed by the text as edited.

According to an embodiment, sending the multi-media instant message (IM)to the first party and to the second party comprises sending themulti-media instant message (IM) to at least one of: more than onecomputing device associated with the first party; and more than onecomputing device associated with the second party.

According to an embodiment, the method further comprises sending amulti-media file comprising the voice message along with the text,thereby the IM is comprised of both audio and transcription text,indivisible.

As will be realized, the subject matter disclosed and claimed is capableof modifications in various respects, all without departing from thescope of the claims. Accordingly, the drawings and the description areto be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive and thefull scope of the subject matter is set forth in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, taken in combinationwith the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a screenshot illustrating a user interface for implementing aconventional method for sending the voicemail to the receiving party,according to the prior art;

FIG. 2 is an example of a screenshot of a display device (userinterface) illustrating a chat session in accordance with an embodiment;

FIGS. 3a and 3b illustrate an exemplary chat session as it appears onthe display devices associated with both the first party and the secondparty, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 4a illustrates the instant message as transcribed in an editableformat and ready to be sent, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 4b illustrates an amended version of the message of FIG. 4a , inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 5 which shows the transcribed message as received and thecorrection message that followed, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIGS. 6-11 are workflows illustrating outgoing and incoming callhandling accomplished by the remote call switch, the remote voicemailserver and the remote transcription server;

FIGS. 12-13 are workflows illustrating embodiments of a method forinitiating a chat session between a first party and a second party; and

FIGS. 14-15 are workflows illustrating embodiments of a method forforwarding an instant message to a chat session between a first partyand a second party.

It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like featuresare identified by like reference numerals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

There is described a system and a method for establishing a chat sessionbetween a first party and a second party. The method comprisesreceiving, at a remote chat session establishment (RCSE) server, a voicemessage from the first party which is destined for the second party. Theserver transcribes the voice message, which involves transforming thevoice message into a text. The server then initiates the chat sessionbetween the first party and the second party, by sending the text andaudio as a multi-media instant message (IM) to the first party and tothe second party. The IM appears as an outgoing message on the clientinterface of a first computing device associated with the first party,and as an incoming message on the client interface of a second computingdevice associated with the second party. Each party can have more thanone device, and the message can be displayed similarly on the otherdevices associated to the same party.

In a non-limiting example of implementation, the embodiments describe asystem, a method, and an interface for facilitating a communicationsession between two parties by integrating voicemail, chat, calling andcall logs. The chat log may be displayed on a mobile device or otherchat capable device. The system makes use of a chat session to logentries for connected calls, missed calls, voicemail and chat messagesbetween a first party and a second party. The transcribed chat messageand any replies or follow ups thereto appear as the latest entries inthe chat log of both parties.

According to an embodiment, when a first party wishes to communicatewith a second party using voice calling and leaves a voicemail for thesecond party, the voicemail is converted to text (instant message or IM)and the text is delivered (with the audio message) to the second partyas a new incoming chat message within a chat session, creating one ifnone already exists. Whereby, if the second party is in a meeting orcannot answer the call for a given reason they would be able to knowwhat the call is about by glancing at the chat message text to get agist of what the caller said or by listening to the attached audio andcan immediately reply thereto if they desire to do so.

The present invention will be more readily understood by referring tothe following examples which are given to illustrate the inventionrather than to limit its scope.

FIG. 2 is an example of a screenshot of a display device (the screenshotshowing the user interface as displayed on the display device)illustrating a chat session in accordance with an embodiment. Theexemplary chat session 100 of FIG. 2 includes log entries for exchangedtext messages 102, calls 104, voicemails 106, etc. The log entries arevisible to the users who can see easily the history of communications orcommunication attempts between he/she and the other user. As shown inFIG. 2, the log entry 106 for the voicemail includes a transcribed textportion 108 representing the text spoken by the first party in thevoicemail left for the second party, as generated by the method usingvoice-to-text algorithms, and an audio portion 110 including an audiofile representing the voicemail itself. The audio file may be played tohear the voicemail within the chat session, whereby, the chat sessioncan summarize the entire communication between two parties, be itverbal, text, or unanswered calling attempts. The presence of the audiofile is visible in the user interface of both users. Both of them canindependently select the voicemail for playback on their own device.

This is advantageous in comparison with prior art systems which, forexample, even when replies are possible, do not provide the sender witha copy of their original voicemail so they have no record of the fullconversation.

In an embodiment of the invention, calls between the first party and thesecond party may be recorded, and the recording along with itstranscription can be delivered in the chat session created between thetwo parties, as for the voicemails as described above. This can beimplemented in a particular embodiment, or can also be chosen by theusers via a configuration portal they can access to select this option.

The transcribed voice message appears as an outgoing message in the chatsession as it appears on the first party's side and as an incomingmessage in the chat session appearing on the second party's side. Forexample, the user interface can be divided in two columns, where theleft one is for incoming communications and the right one is foroutgoing communications, where every communication (incoming andoutgoing) is shown together on the same interface. Therefore, the chatsession 100 mirrors the same log entries on the first party's side andon the second party's side with the exception that what is incoming onthe one side will appear as outgoing on the other side and vice versa,as exemplified in FIGS. 3a and 3b . FIGS. 3a and 3b illustrate a chatsession as it appears on the display devices associated with both thefirst party and the second party (for the case when both parties aresubscribers and have the app installed—other cases are describedherein). As exemplified in FIGS. 3a and 3b the different communicationentries are chronologically logged on both sides of the chat session andmirrored in a way that an incoming log entry for one side corresponds toan outgoing log entry on the other side.

In a non-limiting example of implementation, the system may allow thefirst party initiating the voice message to make amendments to thetranscribed message to avoid any transcription errors introduced by thevoice-to-text algorithm/program used for transcribing the voicemail intotext. This can be done within the same user interface as the onepresenting the communication log, i.e., by selecting the text of thevoicemail in the “outgoing” section of the user interface, the sender ofthe voicemail can open an on-screen keyboard and transform the text toamend in an editable format in which the text can be edited using thekeyboard.

In one example, the amendments may be made by the first party prior tosending the message to the second party, whereby, after dictating thevoicemail (aka voice message), a new chat message (aka instant message)is created on the first party's portable device in the chat sessionhaving the second party as destination and having the transcribedmessage in editable format ready to be sent upon pressing a send button.This allows the first party to make amendments to the text prior tosending the message to the second party, as exemplified in FIGS. 4a and4b . FIG. 4a illustrates the instant message as transcribed in aneditable format and ready to be sent, and FIG. 4b illustrates an amendedversion of the message wherein the expression “Monday. I will be therein 10 mimites” introduced by the voice to text algorithm in FIG. 4a havebeen amended to read “my way. I will be there in 10 minutes” in the FIG.4b prior to sending.

When amendments are made by the first party, the amended text is sent asa second text message after the multi-media message is sent to thesecond party, whereby the multi-media IM contains the audio and originaltranscribed text so that the multi-media IM object is always composed ofaudio and its corresponding transcription. This ensures that the gist ofthe audio is conveyed by transcribed text (if the text of thetranscription is clear enough) and without alteration by sender. Byreading the transcribed message “as sent”, the first party (i.e., thesender) may make the necessary modifications to the text and these willbe sent as one or more follow-up messages correcting the content of thetranscribed message “as sent”. An example is shown in FIG. 5 which showsthe transcribed message 120 as received and the correction message 122that followed (as seen on the portable device of the second party akareceiving side).

In an embodiment, the system may be configured to perform decisions onspeaker language based on various factors such as computing devicelocalization, default sender language setting on the device, defaultrecipient language, sender/receiver communication history, etc., inorder to improve the quality of the transcription. This allows thevoice-to-text algorithm to be personalized to the associated user toaccommodate for different accents, dialects, and other voice andlanguage components, whereby the quality of the transcriptions willimprove to reduce the errors, particularly in multi-lingual situations.

In one aspect, the method may be offered as service to its subscribers,whereby, to be practiced, at least one of the first party and the secondparty must be a subscriber of the service. In a non-limiting example,the method may be implemented as a dedicated application that at leastone of the first party and the second party must have on theircomputing/portable device (e.g., a smartphone) used to make phone calls.A remote server can be used to store a downloadable version of theapplication that any user can access to download remotely theapplication and install it on its own electronic device. This server canbe the same or can be different from the application server(s). In othercases, the application or the features of the application describedherein can be already programmed in the operating system of theelectronic device. A user can be considered to be a subscriber in bothcases, such that the features described herein can be implemented,because transmittal of communication to or via the application server(s)is made possible by this subscription.

The application server(s) include the voicemail server, to whichcommunications can be redirected by the on-phone application of asubscriber (the subscriber being either recipient or sender) forvoicemail recordation or even phone call recordation. The applicationserver(s) also include the transcription server, which transcribes voice(voicemail, real-time phone calls) to text (or alternatively generatescomputer-generated voice from a text such as a SMS). The applicationserver(s) can be a single server, or two distinct servers, or aplurality of servers operating in a network (including cloud computing,for example).

Therefore, different configurations are implemented depending on whetherthe subscriber is the first party initiating the call, the second partyreceiving the call, or both. The following embodiments will discussthese different scenarios.

As an example, if a non-subscriber caller reaches a subscriber'svoicemail and leaves a voice message, the voice message will beredirected by the subscriber's electronic device to the applicationserver and will be transcribed and sent, by the application server, toboth the subscriber and the caller as an instant message. The IM maycome in the form of chat for the subscriber using the subscriptionservice's application and as an SMS/MMS message for the caller who doesnot have the application installed on their device. This opens up a chatsession between them regardless of whether the caller is a subscriber ornot. In the case of SMS/MMS delivery to a non-subscriber, due to SMS/MMSlimitations, the non-subscriber will see this as an incoming message,rather than outgoing. As a compensation for this issue, the message ispresented within a context that explains to the caller that this is themessage they left for the subscriber.

Similarly, if a subscriber using the subscription service's applicationcalls a non-subscriber and reaches their voicemail and leaves a voicemessage, the service will record the message, transcribe it to a textand send to both the subscriber and the called party as an instantmessage. The IM comes in the form of chat for the subscriber using thesubscription service's application and an SMS/MMS message for the calledparty who does not have the application. This opens up a chat sessionbetween them regardless of whether the called party is a subscriber ornot. The called party's voicemail system may also deliver a copy of themessage to the called party using whichever mechanism that systememploys.

If the SMS/MMS number of the non-subscriber is not known by the system,it discovers it by examining the non-subscriber's contact details in thesubscriber's contacts directory, and/or by attempting to match thenon-subscriber's called number when the call is initiated, and/or byusing a Calling Line Identification (CLID) when calling. If adetermination is still not possible, the system shall try to determineit using any means allowed by technology. For example, it may use an APIthat detects if a number is a landline or a mobile phone number, or itmay ask the subscriber to specify it. If a determination is still notpossible, the system may send the SMS/MMS to the known non-subscriberphone number and ask for a confirmation reply in the hope thenon-subscriber's phone number is SMS enabled.

If a subscriber calls another subscriber and reaches their voicemail andleaves a voice message, the service will record the message, transcribeit and send to both subscribers as an instant message. In oneembodiment, where both subscribers use the subscription service'sapplication, the IM may come in the form of in-app chat for bothsubscribers. The subscriber leaving the message will see it as anoutgoing chat message while the other subscriber will see it as anincoming chat message. This opens up a chat session between them eventhough one of them is not a subscriber.

If a first party calls the second party but the call is not answered bythe second party, whether answered by voicemail or the first party hangsup, the method logs a ‘missed call’ entry 104 as a chat message from theother party within a chat session 100 between both parties asexemplified in FIG. 2. However, if the first party calls the secondparty and the call connects, the method logs an ‘outbound call’ entry asa chat message to the first party and an ‘inbound call’ entry as a chatmessage to the second party, within the chat session between bothparties.

The first party may be able to send additional chat messages and replyto chat messages from the second party by typing text or recordingspeech, which is converted to text, the text delivered, along with theaudio if applicable, as a new chat message within the chat session. Forexample, audio may be recorded on the instant messaging client interfaceon the electronic device of the recording party. The second party may beable to reply to the chat message and send additional chat messages tothe first party using text or speech, the speech converted to text andthe text delivered along with the audio if applicable, to the firstparty as a reply within the same chat session.

Accordingly, a communication session starts with either an outgoingconnection or an incoming one. These two cases are outlined below.

Case 1) Outgoing connection: a subscriber can call, message or textanother party. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for directing outgoingcalls in accordance with an embodiment.

1.A) To call a party that is not on the service (i.e., not asubscriber), a subscriber simply enters the phone number of thisnon-subscriber party, or selects them from the Contact Directory andclicks the ‘Call’ icon. As exemplified in FIGS. 2, 3 a and 3 b, the callattempt may be logged in the subscriber's chat dialog associated withthe called party once the call ends whether answered or the caller hangsup without an answer. The entry may appear as an IM from the User to theCalled Party. The entry may be made at the end of the call if it wasanswered and may indicate the start time and duration of the call. Ifthe call is not answered, the entry may be made as soon as the userhangs up and may indicate a ‘busy’ or ‘no answer’ status as the case maybe. The Called Party associated with the chat dialog may be identifiedby name if they are in the Contact Directory or phone number if they arenot. If the number is not in the Contacts Directory the subscriber maybe offered the option to add it and specify a name.

1.A.i) If the call is answered by the called party, the subscriber mayselect the ‘Record’ option if not enabled by default. The service maythen start recording and transcribing the real-time continuousbidirectional conversation. The recorded segments may appear in the chatlog.

1.A.ii) If the call is to a non-subscriber and answered by voicemail,the subscriber may select the ‘Message’ option if not enabled bydefault. The service may start recording the subscriber's message.Depending on the subscriber's preferences, the service may first hang-upon the non-subscriber's voicemail system so that the message is notrecorded by that system.

1.A.iii) At the end of the call, the service may transcribe the messageand send it to the subscriber via chat. If the called party is not asubscriber the transcribed message may be sent to them via SMS/MMS. Anew chat entry in the subscriber's chat log may also be made indicatingthe start time of the call and its duration.

1.B) To message another party, the subscriber simply enters their phonenumber or selects them from the Contact Directory, then click the‘Message’ icon using the application. The chat session may open and theuser can start recording the subscriber's message. Transcription may bedone and displayed as the recording proceeds. When finished recording,the subscriber hits the send button and the message along with thetranscription may appear in their chat log as a sent entry. If the otherparty is not a subscriber the service may send them via SMS/MMS to theother party.

1.C) To text another party, the subscriber simply enters their phonenumber or selects them from the Contacts Directory then click the ‘Chat’icon using the App. The chat session may open and the user can starttexting the subscriber's message. When finished texting, the subscriberhits the send button and the text may appear in their chat log as a sententry. Optionally, the service may compose the audio equivalent of thetext using a text-to-speech program and include the generated audio filewith the text. If the other party is not a subscriber the service maysend the text and audio, if enabled, via SMS/MMS to the other party.

Case 2) Inbound connection: a subscriber can receive a call, message ortext. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method for directing incoming calls inaccordance with an embodiment.

2.A) To call a subscriber, a calling party simply dials the subscriber'sservice phone number or messaging phone number manually or by selectingthe subscriber from a Contact Directory. When the service number iscalled, an indication of an incoming call may be logged in thesubscriber's chat dialog associated with the caller. The entry mayappear as an IM from the caller to the user. The entry may be made atthe end of the call if it was answered by the subscriber and mayindicate the start time and duration of the call. If the call is notanswered by the subscriber, the entry may be made as soon as it isanswered by voicemail and may indicate a ‘missed call’. The callingparty associated with the chat dialog may be identified by name if theyare also a subscriber or if their calling number is in the user'sContact Directory. If a name associated with the calling number cannotbe determined, then the number is used. If the calling number is notknown then the entry is made in a session associated with anonymouscallers. The ‘anonymous caller’ session is special in that it is onlyfor one-way communication coming to the user from unknowns. The usercannot reply to messages in the anonymous chat session. If the number isknown and not in the Contact Directory the user may be offered theoption to add it and specify a name.

2.A.i) If the call is answered by the subscriber, the subscriber mayselect the ‘Record’ option, if not enabled by default. The service maythen start recording and transcribing the conversation. The recordedsegments may appear in the chat log.

2.A.ii) If the call is answered by the subscriber's voicemail, the otherparty may leave a message. When finished recording, the service maytranscribe the message and send it to the subscriber's chat log.Optionally, instead of transcribing when the recording is finished, theservice may transcribe it and send chat entries to the subscriber's chatlog in near real-time. The subscriber can in effect read/listen to themessage being left as it is being left and the option to ‘Answer’ wouldbe provided.

2.A.iii) At the end of the call, the service may transcribe the messageand send it to the Subscriber via Chat if real-time logging was notenabled, and to the calling party if they are not a subscriber viaSMS/MMS if their SMS number is known. A new chat entry in thesubscriber's chat log may also be made indicating the start time of thecall and its duration.

2.B) When a subscriber wishes to message another subscriber, theworkflow is described in 1.B above. When a non-subscriber wishes tomessage a subscriber, they simply dial the subscriber's messaging phonenumber. The messaging phone number is answered directly by the voicemailservice without ringing the subscriber's phone. Provided calleridentification information is available on the call (i.e., if it is notan anonymous caller) it may be used to associate the chat dialog withthe calling party's name if they are in the Contact Directory, or theirnumber if they are not. If the number is not in the Contact Directory itmay be added and an option to specify a name may be presented to thesubscriber.

2.C) When a subscriber wishes to text another subscriber, the workflowis described in 1.C above. When a non-subscriber wished to text asubscriber, they simply send an SMS to the subscriber's Messaging phonenumber which is SMS-enabled. The service may receive the text, createthe audio equivalent of the text using text-to-speech and send it viachat to the chat log of the subscriber associated with the sender.

The system/method may further provide the ability to obtain from thefirst party availability information indicating when they may beavailable for a call if necessary and upon delivery of the chat messageto the second party obtaining from the second party their availabilityinformation.

The system/method may further obtain availability via options selectablein the display of the chat session, via query of the parties' calendarand via interactive voice response.

The system/method may further provide each party with information aboutthe other party, including name, telephone number and availability andprovides either party with the ability to call the other party. Thesystem may further include the ability to schedule a call at a timeagreeable to both parties and to have the system automatically call bothparties and connect the call.

The system/method may further provide the option to include therecording and text transcription of the audio of connected calls betweenthe two parties and logging these calls within the chat session.

When viewing the chat log the party has the option to filter by entrytype so all entries are displayed or only entries of selected types(connected calls, missed calls, voicemail and chat) are displayed.

FIGS. 7, 9 and 10 provide flowcharts of methods for sending IM to usersand callers in accordance with an embodiment.

FIGS. 6 and 8 are flowcharts of methods for directing outgoing andincoming calls in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 11 provides a high level message flow diagram showing where theaudio is transcribed and other service elements involved in creating amulti-media IM and sending it to the mobile device where a chat clientreceives it and displays it in the appropriate chat session.

FIGS. 12-13 are workflows illustrating embodiments of a method forinitiating a chat session between a first party and a second party,respectively without and with text edition of the transcription.

FIGS. 14-15 are workflows illustrating embodiments of a method forforwarding an instant message to a chat session between a first partyand a second party, respectively without and with text edition of thetranscription.

While preferred embodiments have been described above and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, it will be evident to those skilled in theart that modifications may be made without departing from thisdisclosure. Such modifications are considered as possible variantscomprised in the scope of the disclosure.

Examples of these modifications include the bridging of the 2-waycommunication session between a first party and a second party usingdifferent instant messaging clients.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer implemented method fortransforming a voice message into a communication session between afirst party and a second party, the method comprising: receiving, at aremote server, a voicemail from the first party which is destined forthe second party, the voicemail being recorded by the first party when acall to the second party is not answered or not made; transcribing thevoicemail including transforming the voicemail into a text; and sendingthe text and audio as a multi-media instant message (IM) to the firstparty and to the second party to establish a chat session between thefirst party and the second party, the IM being sent to more than onecomputing device associated with the first party and/or more than onecomputing device associated with the second party, the IM appearing asan outgoing message in a first chat window on one or more computingdevices associated with the first party, and as an incoming message in asecond chat window on one or more computing devices associated with thesecond party.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the voicemail istranscribed using a voice-to-text algorithm installed on the remoteserver.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: before initiatingthe chat session, sending the text to the computing devices associatedwith the first party and instructing them to present the text in aneditable format; recording edits on the text by a first computing deviceassociated with the first party and sending the text as edited to theremote server; and sending the IM to the computing devices associatedwith the second party immediately followed by the text as edited.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the audio is recorded on a first computingdevice associated with the first party and streamed over atelecommunications network to be transcribed using a voice-to-textalgorithm installed on the remote server, then the IM is sent as a newmessage to the computing devices associated with the second party over atelecommunications network.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprisingsending a multi-media file comprising the voicemail along with the text,thereby the IM is comprised of both audio and transcription text,indivisible.
 6. A system for transforming a voice message into acommunication session between a first party and a second party, thesystem comprising: a remote server to which an electronic device of thefirst party subscribes, the remote server receiving a voicemail from thefirst party which is destined for the second party, the voicemail beingrecorded by the first party when a call to the second party is notanswered or not made; the remote server executing instructions fortranscribing the voicemail including transforming the voicemail into atext, the remote server sending the text and audio as a multi-mediainstant message (IM) to the first party and to the second party toestablish a chat session between the first party and the second party,the IM being sent to more than one computing device associated with thefirst party and/or more than one computing device associated with thesecond party, the IM appearing as an outgoing message in a first chatwindow on one or more computing devices associated with the first party,and as an incoming message in a second chat window on one or morecomputing devices associated with the second party.
 7. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the remote server comprises a single server forrecording the voicemail and transcribing the voicemail to the text. 8.The system of claim 6, wherein the remote server comprises a voicemailserver for recording the voicemail and a transcription server incommunication with the voicemail server for transcribing the voicemailto the text.
 9. The system of claim 6, wherein the remote servercomprises a plurality of servers operating in a network for recordingthe voicemail and transcribing the voicemail to the text.
 10. A methodfor transforming and integrating a voicemail into a chat session betweena first party and a second party, the method comprising: receiving, at aremote server, a voicemail from the first party which is destined forthe second party, the voicemail being recorded by the first party when acall to the second party is not answered or not made; transcribing thevoicemail including transforming the voicemail into a text; andforwarding to the chat session between the first party and the secondparty, a multi-media instant message (IM) including the text and anaudio record of the voicemail, the IM being forwarded to more than onecomputing device associated with the first party and/or more than onecomputing device associated with the second party, the IM appearing asan outgoing message in a first chat window on one or more computingdevices associated with the first party displaying the chat session, andas an incoming message in a second chat window on one or more computingdevices associated with the second party displaying the chat session.11. The method of claim 10, wherein the voicemail is transcribed using avoice-to-text algorithm installed on the remote server.
 12. The methodof claim 10, wherein the audio is recorded on a first computing deviceassociated with the first party and streamed over a telecommunicationsnetwork to be transcribed using a voice-to-text algorithm installed onthe remote server, then the IM is sent as a new message to the computingdevices associated with the second party over a telecommunicationsnetwork.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: beforeforwarding the IM to the chat session, sending the text to the computingdevices associated with the first party and instructing them to presentthe text in an editable format; recording edits on the text by a firstcomputing device associated with the first party and sending the text asedited to the remote server; and sending the IM to the computing devicesassociated with the second party immediately followed by the text asedited.
 14. The method of claim 10, further comprising sending amulti-media file comprising the voicemail along with the text, therebythe IM is comprised of both audio and transcription text, indivisible.